Because She's My Sister
by Balshumet
Summary: Zuko and Azula look perfectly at ends, but how much of that is a mask? How far would Zuko go for her?


Balshumet: This one-shot came to me when I was watching a trailer for the other Boleyn girl. The last line from the trailer is a scene between the King and Mary. He asks why would she defend her sister (see the movie to see significance), she responds " Because she's my sister, and therefore one-half of me." So how does that relate to Azula and Zuko? Simple, I believe Zuko would go to such lengths for his younger sister, even after everything she's put him through. That's the parallel I'm going to be making with my story. If you don't agree then eh, don't read it.

Rated for eventual language and mentions and detailing of abuse.

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><p><strong>Campfire Tales<strong>

The sunset stained the sky a blood orange color, the clouds stained pink, the water like garnet. The laughter of a rag-tag team, the world's last hope, echoed off the walls of the Western Air Temple. The fire had already been started, and the young teens gathered around it traded stories over dinner, trying to bond and forget the violent war that raged about them. " -And then Toph bilked them for a whole pile of money! We ran off before they could even figure out how it was done." Sokka declared triumphantly.

"Why did we ever stop with those scams?" Aang asked light-heartedly.

" Because they were stupid and dangerous!" Katara started to go into another of her motherly scoldings. Zuko smiled at the group's playful banter.

"Alright, ok we get it. You're right we're wrong." Sokka said raising his hands in defeat. " You know who hasn't told a story?" All eyes shift to Sokka's form. "Zuko!" Sokka said with a smirk on his face. Zuko caught off guard, blinked helplessly as the weight of the group's combined stares leveled on him.

"Well, uh, I don't really have any funny stories like that to share." Zuko said trying to change the subject.

" Come on buddy, you've traveled the world and you don't have anything funny to report?" Sokka tries prodding him.

" No. Travel had a single objective there was little time or need for fun, and I wasn't trying to have any." Zuko said decisively.

" Well… what about your childhood? We," Sokka paused and grabbed Katara,

" Have plenty of funny stories from the South Pole." Sokka offered.

"I don't think… that would be a good idea." Zuko stated. The group fell silent, and Zuko felt responsible for the souring of the mood. " Alright. Maybe I could think of something." The other members of team Avatar perked up a bit. Zuko took a deep breath and started in on his narrative. "Some see my people's land as a harsh and unforgiving place, hewed straight from the ocean and locked away from the world by mountains. While it is true the terrain and seasons of my homeland is one that is filled with great contrasts, the Winter brings freezing rain to pound the bluffs that surround most areas of my nation, the Summer a sweltering, oppressive heat that dries the depths of it's interior, they see not the calm still nights under the stars with the wind just right, the kind that makes spirits soar." Zuko paused in his musings, closing his eyes as a gentle breeze caressed his face. His eyes turned back to the group waiting on him to continue. " But it is not on one of those calm nights this story takes place. The thundering rain comes often in the summer, and this story takes place in the heart of a thundering whirlwind on the edge of the sea…"

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><p>~6 years earlier~<p>

Firelord Ozai frowned disapprovingly at his youngest child's progress. She had yet to master her latest Forms and was falling behind in her training schedule. Her teachers had taciturnly suggested, once again, that perhaps the schedule he has set forth was too strenuous for a young child to handle. He had angrily replied that he knew his little protégé better than anyone else, and if Azula was having problems it must be from a failing in either their teaching or her ethics. Since the teachers wished to not be on the new Firelord's large bad side, they were quick to insinuate that Azula was being lazy in her practice. It couldn't be farther from the truth. Azula worked with a single-minded tenacity, a fire that grown men would envy. There was just so much a being could learn in a day, a week even, and the schedule set forth by the Firelord was unreasonable by even the most hardnosed master's standards.

A new form everyday, with a perfection of those by week's end so they can be showcased to him. Azula had preformed beautifully. Six out of seven forms of that week had been without the slightest flaw, but on the seventh she had misplaced her foot by a inch or so in one of the stances. It was unacceptable. "Azula must be perfect." The Firelord stated humorlessly, " I will accept nothing less." The Firelord turned to leave, then added with his back still to the group of teachers, " She will be perfect next time, or there will be some adjustments made to her masters." The Firelord left with the thought of being fired at the forefront of the teacher's minds. Leaving the fearful teacher's presence, Firelord Ozai walked briskly to his young daughter's room at the other end of this wing of the palace. " She will just have to practice more often." Lord Ozai concluded calmly. Lord Ozai found Azula at the most inopportune time, she was taking a rare break from practice for water. The only problem, Zuko had taken the opportunity to try to cheer his ever-serious sister up. Ozai found his little flame joking and laughing light-heartedly with her older sibling. " So the teachers were right. How surprising, they usually try to cover their own mistakes, it seems they were being forthright about her lackadaisical training habits.

"Zuko!" Azula giggled while on the ground," Stop… tickling… me!" She gasped through fits of laughter.

" Make me!" He cried back just as earnestly, tickling her with renewed vigor. The two giggled louder as Azula launched a counter attack in the tickle war. She managed to flip her heavier sibling over, and was about to attack his soft belly when she caught sight of her father frowning scornfully at their play.

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><p>~Present~<p>

"I've watched that smile disappear many times from her face, none of those times ended well" Zuko said forlornly. A distinct cold sadness had settled over the campsite after the sun's warmth had departed over the distant horizon. The gentle breeze suddenly felt cold and biting instead of a welcome comfort in the heat. Zuko shivered slightly and despite the heat, raised his temperature with his fire bending. " I'm still cold… I suppose trying to warm the soul with the physical is a wasted effort." Zuko said to no one in particular. The others shivered in agreement and moved closer together.

" Hey!" Aang exclaimed, " I thought you said the story took place in a rainstorm." Zuko took his eyes off the fire and replied,

" You're right. I'm getting to that."

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><p>~6 years earlier~<p>

Their father stepped forward from the shadows of the Firebark trees that lined the garden. Azula quickly rose from her position on top of Zuko and into a stiff solider like stance. Firelord Ozai's hardened grimace turned from his daughter down to his son. Zuko quickly found his feet, and clambered to stand next to Azula. Ozai's eyes met Azula's. " Why do you disappoint me?" He asked his youngest child. He didn't truly expect a response. " You must be perfect. I will accept-NO! Tolerate nothing less." Ozai railed on Azula's fragile self-esteem. " You will practice the form you failed until it is perfect. You are to practice at the cliffs; they always seem to help you learn faster. You are not to return until you have mastered the form that for some reason eludes you. Am I clear?" Firelord Ozai said with finality. The question was more rhetorical than anything else.

" Yes my Firelord." Azula said softly. After Ozai had taken leave of the garden, Azula's temper flew at Zuko. " You just couldn't leave me alone! You like it when I'm trouble, it means you're not!" Azula threw the heated accusation in Zuko's face before stomping off towards her mandatory training ground. Zuko sat there stunned into silent contemplation by her words. Morning to midday, midday fell to evening, evening to night, the sun gave the lead of the dance of time to the moon.

"Still no Azula." Zuko thought unhappily as he stared out the window towards the bluffs that were on the edge of the island. Clouds drifted in from the sea, angry and dark, like the brooding mood of the young prince. "It's been so long, maybe I should check up on her and apologize." the young prince considered. After a moment of hesitation, prince Zuko vaulted out of his bedroom window and onto the balcony right beneath it. From there, he climbed down the wall to the ground using Omashu vines growing on the palace walls. Making quick work of the walls surrounding the palace, he sprinted past the grass and onto the hard earthen paths. Following the very curved back of the mountain, Zuko raced into the cliffs as the sky poured its liquid ice onto the world. Despite having gotten to the cliffs in a few minutes, it took Zuko hours to find Azula's chosen training spot. "She seems to move it every time, just so I can't find it." Zuko thought crossly. Labored breaths caught Zuko's attention. He rounded a corner, and finally found Azula. Drenched and soaked to the bone in cold rain, she was standing shakily on ever weakening legs. Zuko ran to her. He made it to Azula's side, right before her legs finally gave out. She huffed in his arms, trying to catch the evasive whipping air. "Azula I think you've practiced enough for today. Why don't we just-" Zuko said as he started to lift Azula to her feet.

"No! I haven't gotten it right yet. It has to be perfect. I _have_ to be perfect." Azula pushed away and began the synchronized movements of the form once again, dancing around an unseen opponent. By this time her fire was barely a spark from the exhaustion and the cold. Zuko had long given up on convincing his sister to not train when she was in one of "her moods". It was a hopeless endeavor, and yet…

"Please Azula," Zuko grabbed her wrist and stopped her mid-movement. He was rewarded with a scowl and a snarl. She jerked her hand away and began again. Zuko watched as his sister preformed like a marionette, dancing, twirling, creating nothing but smoke.

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><p>~Present~<p>

"And I watched her, with a broken hopelessness in her eyes, as she tried to perfect an art." Zuko said dejectedly.

"Wait I don't understand something." Sokka interrupt Zuko's story this time. Everyone looked in Sokka's direction. "Why didn't she just go home and try again tomorrow. I mean it's freezing outside and she's practiced all day. Plus she can't even make fire anymore so there's no point." Sokka finished with a sage-like nod. Zuko groaned, and replied;

"You don't understand our father would not have let her back into the palace without seeing that she had mastered the form with his own eyes. If she came back before she had really learned it she would be forced to train under his watchful eye, or worse, punished." Zuko finished his explanation exasperated.

" Why would he do that?" Sokka fired back angrily.

"Because, Azula must be perfect!" Zuko cried at his teammates across the fire that suddenly roared into heated existence. He moaned in pain for his sister's hollow life, "Azula must be perfect." Zuko whispered his father unreasonable meaningless words repeatedly to himself, and lowered his eyes to the ground. Zuko placed his head and his knees and wrapped his arms around his legs. He hugged himself for a moment, before looking up determinedly. " But this story isn't about her seeking perfection, it's about who Azula really is." Zuko started.

"An evil, conniving, manipulative, psychotic bitch?" Katara questioned sarcastically. Zuko answered her with a glare,

"No a scared little girl whose brother never should have left."

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><p>~6 years earlier~<p>

"Azula if you won't come home… do you think I could practice with you?" Zuko questioned desperate to keep his sister from getting any colder. She was already pale, and slightly blue. Azula paused as she finished the last move of the form, still not satisfied with the results. She closed her eyes in deep thought, or more likely fatigue, before nodding her head in agreement. After watching her perform the same routine several times during the day, Zuko picked up on the needed movements and followed her through the form. Zuko used his fire bending, to raise the temperature of the small area he and Azula were training by several degrees. Azula started to respond favorably, as her temperature stabilized in the presence of another warm body. After another five minutes of practice, there was steam rising from the earth around the two young firebenders. Suddenly, Azula's firebending flared back to life. The two passed through the form effortlessly, and in a moment of coordinated miracles, completed the form without flaws. Azula smiled smugly at conquering the latest form, and looked in Zuko's direction. She threw her arms around Zuko's shoulders before saying,

" I'm not stupid enough to think I would have gotten through that tonight without your company." Zuko returned Azula's smile warmly. " Nor am I too arrogant to say… thank you" Azula said with a small smile on her face.

"No problem, just paying back the debt from getting you into this mess in the first place. It was my fault." Zuko offered.

" Darn straight it was!" Azula growled angrily. Zuko was taken aback for a moment before Azula burst into laughter. "Take it easy Zuzu, it was just a joke. One would think you were me with that attitude." Azula said happily. Still giddy over her mastering of the newest form, Azula ran off towards the palace daring Zuko to race her. Zuko leapt at the challenge, and strode purposely after her. The two royal siblings quickly neared the palace's imposing walls. Azula's smile suddenly faded, remembering her mandatory test by her father. She then stopped a few feet from the entrance, but it was raining so hard, the guards had yet to notice them. "Zuko promise me something?" Azula asked quietly.

"What?" Zuko answered inquisitively. "Promise you'll never leave, everyone else keeps leaving Uncle, Lu Ten, Ty Lee, Mai, and Mom. Just not you." Azula said mousy.

" I promise," Zuko started then stepped next to Azula in the pouring rain, " that I'll never leave you." Zuko said passionately. After a reassuring hug, the two continued into the palace. Azula preformed like a perfect robot, and earned herself a night of peaceful sleep.

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><p>~Present~<p>

" In the end, all Azula really needs is someone to be there for her consistently. I failed her, that's why she's like this now." Zuko finished the story calmly; the last sentence left his mouth like fact.

"Wait just a second, you're not responsible for anyone else's mistakes or mental issues." Sokka defended.

"Yeah he's got enough of his own." Katara commented snidely. The rest of the group turned semi-angrily towards Katara, still sensitive after Zuko's story.

" You just don't understand…" Zuko replied trailing off. Zuko stood from the glowing warmth of the flames and wondered off deeper into the air temple. The others eyes watched his disconsolate form as it vanished into the pervasive darkness around the campfire.

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><p>Balshumet: Well that's the first chapter. Going to be honest, this is very old, I haven't touched it in years. I don't know if I'm going to pick it up again. And it's supposed to be only another chapter or two long in any case. Maybe if I have some encouragement? Reviews always help. In any case, feel free to check out my active stories, and R&amp;R.<p> 


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